Switchvox Cloud UC Solution from Digium

Small and midsize businesses will be able to access Digium's unified communications solutions in the cloud as a result of the company's release of a hosted version of its Asterisk-based VoIP system, Switchvox.

Partners of Digium now have the opportunity to sell the company's UC platform in a services-based model, and this will allow them to gain recurring revenue as they proceed. The product manager of Digium Network Services, Bryan Johns, said that in a few instances, partners will be able to see such revenue through the offering of subscription renewals for the on-premise Switchvox solution, but in contrast with the recurring revenue from the sales of Switchvox Cloud, these are "minimal."

Johns said: "The Switchvox Cloud recurring revenue model will provide a much more consistent cash flow for our partners. This should allow our partners to more efficiently run their business as they will be more assured of monthly revenues."

The Switchvox Cloud service is available through a private cloud environment, and month-to-month payments vary from $29 to $35 per user; this is dependent upon the contract length. Further to VoIP phone services, an unlimited amount of local and long-distance minutes are also offered through the Switchvox Cloud, including local DID, unlimited extension-to-extension dialing and HD Voice.

A wide range of UC features will be provided through the Switchvox Cloud (on-premise version) suite, and mobile devices such as iOS, Android and BlackBerry smartphones and tablets will all be able to access this.

The president of Shelton, Conn.-based solution provider NetImage, Dale Whitney, commented that Switchvox Cloud will be made available by his company, and specifically in the SMB space. It is also a low-cost alternative to on-premise and competing UC and VoIP solutions.

Whitney said: "We think this will be a good fit for smaller clients that are not ready yet to invest in infrastructure and are looking for a solution that can be paid for on a monthly basis."

Whilst building its recurring revenue streams, Switchvox Cloud will also broaden its cloud portfolio with a voice solution. Whitney said: "We have been offering cloud services for the past few years on the data side of our business, so this will now give us a solution on the voice side. Our recurring revenue business has grown significantly in the past few years due to our managed services and cloud offerings -- this will just help to increase that revenue."

NetImage will also be able to sell the product because the Switchvox on-premise and Switchvox Cloud both have very similar characteristics. Whitney added: "By having the same solution for both premise and cloud, it makes the sales process easier and does not require any additional training for our support staff. We also think it's compelling that a client could start off with the cloud solution and then grow into a premise-based system and still keep the same phones, client interface and feature set."

Digium has slowly been making a name for itself in the channel over the last few years, and this is consequential of the increasing popularity of the open-source IP PBX Asterisk, which Digium is the primary developer for.

The release of Switchvox Cloud increases the competition with UC rivals that also provide hosted UC solutions, like Cisco and ShoreTel. (CY) Link